1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a treatment system for treatment of a substrate, and more particularly to a treatment system having a gas distribution system configured to efficiently transport a treating agent to the substrate and distribute the treating agent above the substrate.
2. Description of Related Art
Typically, plasma treatment, including remote plasma treatment, is utilized in semiconductor device manufacturing during material processing, surface preparation, and cleaning of substrates and the respective thin films thereon. Amongst other things, these treatments enable integration of processes during device fabrication, enhance the performance of device metallization, and optimize the yield of working devices. For example, a hydrogen (H2) plasma, or plasma formed of a mixture of hydrogen and other gaseous additives, may be used to clean contact surfaces in electronic structures prior to metallization of these electronic structures. In yet another example, an oxygen (O2) plasma, or plasma formed of a mixture of oxygen and other gaseous additives, may be used to remove mask residue and etch residue remaining on the substrate following an etching application. The use of such plasma treatments is common throughout front-end-of-line (FEOL) applications during transistor fabrication as well as back-end-of-line (BEOL) applications.
However, in many applications where plasma treatment is utilized, the devices being fabricated are sensitive to the energetic species of the plasma and may suffer damage when exposed to such species. For example, the immersion of the substrate within plasma can lead to uncontrolled exposure to high energy charged particles (e.g., energetic electrons, etc.) and electro-magnetic (EM) radiation (e.g., ultraviolet (UV) radiation), which may cause damage to underlying layers and/or structures that is unacceptable to the device manufacturers. Therefore, many of these applications require plasma treatment, wherein plasma is formed remotely. The remote plasma facilitates the formation of reactive species that are transported to the substrate to catalyze the treatment process.